Dr Syed Farooq Hasnat argues that unless the political institutions of the conservative Arab countries are based on popular will, they will remain fragile
The News International, Monday, December 2, 1991
The main weakness of the Arab side of the Persian Gulf is the inability to adopt a viable system for governing their societies. The strength or weakness of a country is judged by the level of participation of its people in the policy making process. Developments that we are witnessing today in the Arab world are only one side of the picture; these reveal only the economic side of the spectrum while ignoring the other vital aspects of institution building - political and security. Although long time back it was realised by some that the expansion of economic growth alone does not sufficiently reflect peoples' aspirations, nevertheless, the process of institution building has more or less remained underdeveloped, or the advancement of semi-matured political bodies has been curtailed.
Important political events such as the Iranian revolution expedited these developments, and both positive and negative reactions came from the elites ruling these countries as well as the people living there. For example under the popular pressure to further expand the powers of the already existing parliament in Kuwait, the reconvened parliament was dissolved in 1986 and in June 1990, i.e., on the eve of the Iraqi invasion, and was replaced by a nominated parliament with much less powers.
Encouraging news came from the Arab countries of the Gulf, when both Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman announced that they were ready to establish some kind of representative councils for their respective nations. On November 14th of this year, Sultan Qaboos bin Said appointed a 59 members Assembly at the national level. These members though serve for three years, their term can be extended by the Sultan. The members are elected through a unique method - best suited to the nature of the tribal society of Oman. Three names are sent by prominent religious and community members to the government and then one of them is finally chosen by the Sultan.
Although the "National Assembly" is limited in its functions, it still can be considered a step forward in the right direction. The new legislative body has been given powers to question the government ministers about the functioning of their respective departments, thus adding a responsibility of accountability to the Council. The Assembly has been given powers to advise the government but would have no authority to make laws or to inspect the activities of the ruling elite. The decree issued on this occasion said, “The Consultative Council should help the government in all matters concerning the Omani society." This representative body has replaced the State Consultative Council (SCC) which was established exactly a decade ago - wholly appointed and with limited functions. The Sultan promised to give more representation to the Omanis few months after the Iraqis had invaded Kuwait in August, 1990.
In a similar development, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia announced that by the beginning of the next year (1992) his country would have a representative body. It may be recalled that on May 18th, a petition signed by 500 Saudis was presented to the King (though who presented it included religious scholars as well as members of clergy), urging him to establish a consultative body that could involve more people in the affairs of the government. It was also requested to introduce reforms in the kingdom, in line with the Islamic principles of democracy and justice.
The expansion of services - as a result of oil revenues - in the Saudi society gave way to the formulation of a Majlis al-Wuzura (Council of Ministers) in October, 1953. The decree that was issued at that occasion recognised that, "because of the increase in the number of obligations and the diversification of the responsibilities placed upon the state," the Council of Ministers had to be established”. Another institution was established in 1955, on a model of a High Court where people could go for appeal. Also, an amendment was made in 1956 whereby complaints against any government organization were allowed to be heard by the Court.
With the advent of more oil wealth in the 1970s, the seven Arab countries of the Persian Gulf region - Oman; Saudi Arabia; UAE; Qatar; Bahrain; Kuwait and Iraq - began to modify their financial structure. This was accompanied by adjustments made in the socio-legal and administrative systems. Old concerns, it seemed, had started to give way to the new requirements, and the system itself registered a discernible change in these societies. The change did not follow a uniform pattern, as one society advanced ahead of the other in various aspects - depending on the nature of the existent structures.
The other catalyst was the readiness of the ruling elite to grant more participation in the decision making apparatus.
Most Persian Gulf states however, in the past remained backward and hence unable to confront the socio-political demands of the changes taking place in and around them. The basic Islamic democratic values were ignored and crude traditions were adopted for the convenience of the administrators.
It must be mentioned here that the Kuwaiti experience with the parliamentary reforms goes back to December, 1961 when elections were held to elect a 20 member Constituent Assembly. The non-party elections with limited franchise - in which women, illiterates and naturalized Kuwaitis were kept out of the political process - were held to elect a national assembly in January 1963. Once again in January 1971, the people of Kuwait were asked to choose 50 members for the Majils and a good number of 184 candidates participated in the elections. The parliament lasted till August 29, 1976. Interestingly, the Iranian revolutionary influence was blamed for the demands of the people for increased powers of the 1986 parliament.
But it seems that the Kuwaiti people themselves, more than anything else, are the basic compulsions for political reforms. Under pressure from the opposition, the Amir of Kuwait issued a decree according to which elections to the new National Assembly would be held in October 1992. The popular opinion in post-Gulf war Kuwait is for political rights. Even members of the royal family are vocal in this respect. Rasha Al Sabah, assistant director of the Kuwait University and a member of the ruling family, recently said that in the future legislative assembly, women should be given the political rights to vote and be elected in the forthcoming elections. She forcefully pleaded her case by saying: "Many women were out on the streets resisting Iraq's occupation when some men were hiding at home." The demand by the Kuwaiti population for the restoration of democratic institutions in their country has been an important feature of the country's politics since Iraq's defeat in February, 1991. A memorandum was presented by six main parties to the Amir on April 1991 asking to allow the functioning of the legalized political parties; establish an independent judiciary and a free press besides other political reforms.
It goes without saying that unless political reforms are introduced in these Arab countries, and political instructions based on the popular will, the safety of these societies would remain frail and vulnerable to disintegration from within.
No comments:
Post a Comment